In Her Dreams
by Kafka'sdragon
Summary: After returning from Wales, Makie struggles to find new dreams and become the hero she wants to be. Makie and other sports girls. Rated T for the present, subject to change. Second chapter added.
1. A Broken Winged Bird

**A/N: Warning, this chapter refers to both suicide and sex. If you are bothered by these topics or just prefer lighter subjects, then press the return key and go back to the index. I consider the content of this story to meet the criteria of 'T', but I'd rather you don't subject yourself to something that might make you uncomfortable.**

**Some months ago, an author whose work I enjoy commented that he had a difficult time imagining Makie as anything but the happy-go-lucky airhead we all know and love. Of course, that got my limited imagination working and this is the first chapter of the result. My thanks to several contributors of the Train Station whose encouragement, suggestions and criticisms have helped make this possible.**

**This story is different from my others, being constructed like those nested boxes where you open one box to find another inside. This allows me to include some lighter moments because all doom and gloom is depressing. I hope it won't be too confusing.**

**Negima is owned by Ken Akamatsu while this story is my original concept. Certain characters are also my creations, namely Ben Crawford and Icelus.**

**The following conventions are used throughout: **"words", 'thoughts', "**spells**"

* * *

**In Her Dreams**

Imagine if you will an unpaved country road just a mile or so off the main highway, nestled among gently, rolling hills. Stately oak trees, some a hundred or more years old, line the street; their branches arching over the lane and meshing, providing needed shade from summer sun and cover from winter rain. Modest, brick houses, looking remarkably similar to each other, occupy lots along the quiet street. Being nearly 9 PM, a score of porch lights cast their warm, welcoming beams. Several homes have security lights mounted on tall poles, illuminating back yards, chasing away unwanted shadows and visitors.

Near the end of the road, on the right hand side, is a mailbox with the number 396 painted on it. The house it sits in front of is a standard 3 bedroom, 1 bath model with a detached garage. A realty company would advertise it as a perfect home for a new family or perhaps a retired couple who expect the grandchildren to visit over vacations.

In the kitchen of this particular house, I sat at the dining table, feverishly clicking away on an older model, laptop. My name is Ben Crawford. I'm 20 years old and am in my sophomore year at the local university, majoring in computer science. I like comic books and anime, enjoy playing guitar hero, play clarinet in the school band, and don't have near enough money to buy the things I'd like. I imagine myself to be pretty typical.

An acquaintance of mine had to leave town on a business trip and asked me to house sit while he was gone. Having a place of mine own was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, so I jumped at the chance. Of course, being able to complete a few missed assignments without having my parents ask why they were missed in the first place had its charms too.

My finger jabbed down on the compile button and I listened intently to the whine of the hard drive as the portable computer judged whether my efforts were worthy. "Yes!" I shouted, joyfully leaping to my feet and doing a quick victory dance. I quickly inserted a flash drive and saved the program, hoping to get into town the next morning to someplace with free internet. A loud knock on the front door interrupted my impromptu celebration.

I glanced through the peephole and noticed three, teen-aged girls standing on the porch. Oblivious to the danger, I opened the door. "Hey, isn't it a bit late to be selling cookies?" I asked and then heard one of them shout "pink ribbon attack." Before I knew what hit me, I was wrapped in a pink, satin cocoon and a sudden tug landed me on the shag carpet with an "Umpff." The trio entered the living room and looked about.

Each wore a different colored sweat suit and carried a gym bag slung over her shoulder. A pink suit covered the supple form of the girl holding the end of the ribbon. Her brown hair had two, pink ties in it. The next girl, similar in size and build to the first, had on a baby blue colored suit and her short, white hair was unadorned. The third girl, dressed in hunter green, had a figure the baggy suit did nothing to disguise. A handful of her dark hair was pulled into a pony tail on the right side of her head. "Uh, look girls, you don't really want to rob me," I said, but was ignored as the other two girls searched the rest of the house and reported all was clear.

Miss Pink Ribbon scrutinized me, a frown of puzzlement evident on her face. "You look a lot different than the class rep described," she cryptically remarked. "Well let's get down to business."

"Uh, business," I replied, totally confused by the situation. "So you're not robbing the place?"

"Robbing the place? Whatever gave you that idea?" the teen-ager answered. "I want you to write a story."

"Hey, he really does have an 8-track collection," the dark haired girl said as she walked in from the adjoining den, brandishing a red, plastic cartridge. "Look! American Pie!"

"A … a story?" I asked the apparent ringleader.

"That's right," she replied. "I want to be the hero and I want Negi-kun."

Her voice dropped in volume as she continued, "And I wouldn't mind if you throw in a little s-e-x either."

Had my thoughts been a 10-speed bicycle, the chain would have flown off at that, leaving gears spinning wildly. "I think you want the guy that lives here," I weakly protested. "I'm just watching the place for him."

"So you want to play it that way," the girl remarked with a grim sort of smile on her face. "Okay Ako, time for plan B."

The white-haired girl rummaged through her bag and pulled out a portable CD player with a set of speakers. Miss Baby Blue pressed the start button and continued searching as the music began. I instantly recognized the "Bump, bump, bump," that blared from the speakers. "Another One Bites the Dust?"

"The extended dance version," the girl explained as she removed a pair of soccer cleats and started to unlace her sneakers.

"Ako here is our class Dance, Dance Revolution champion," the pink clad girl said. "And you are about to become a dance mat."

I wanted to burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all. Here I am, captured by three junior high students who threaten to do a tap dance across my forehead unless I write a story making one of the girls a hero. It would have been hilarious if not for the spikes. Being the rational sort, I swiftly realized the benefits of accommodation and capitulated. "Just what kind of story do you want?"

**Chapter One: A Broken Winged Bird**

The afternoon sun hung over the city of Mahora, yet the weather remained cool. Leaves proudly wore their fall colors of scarlet and yellow, with a slight tint of brown at the edges. Crowds ambled to and fro, clutching coats tightly against a chill breeze, moving constantly about their business. A boy sat upon a cement planter that doubled as a bench and watched their daily struggles, apart from their world.

He appeared to be around 15 years of age, and his olive complexion and black hair marked him as a foreigner, like many of the students attending school here. The lad seemed perfectly unremarkable otherwise, save for the intentness of his gaze and for his eyes. They were two perfect orbs resembling the night sky, starless and bible black, floating in a milk-white sea.

Those eyes roved from person to person, silently taking their measure and making estimations. The vast majority moved about like soulless machines, lacking the necessary spark the boy sought. Those with it were too much like him and might pose a danger if he revealed his presence. 'By Jove, in a city of this size,' he mentally grumbled, 'I should be able to find somebody to purchase my wares.

A girl of 14, wearing one of the numerous school uniforms, wove into view. Her short hair was tied with two ribbons that made her seem younger than she was. Outwardly she looked the kind to have never had a serious thought in her life, yet at the same time the teen shuffled along as if carrying an intolerable weight. 'A potential customer,' the merchant thought as he felt for the pouch attached to his belt. The boy hefted a small, leather bag and was reassured by its bulk. 'This is the seed,' he thought to himself and smiled, 'and I the sower and reaper.'

--

The gymnasium was noisier than normal as athletes from the various clubs practiced in preparation for the upcoming sports day. Coach Ninomiya scrutinized her girls as the gymnastics team ran through their routines one last time before they had to surrender the floor to the next group. The short-haired teacher carried a clipboard and continued to scribble down notes even though little could be changed at this date.

Ninomiya-san ran down the list again, stopping at Sasaki Makie. Next to that girl's name, the coach had written '??'. Makie had always been the most exuberant member of the team, enough so that her teacher wondered if she shouldn't be on medication. But her high spirits had been lacking of late, ever since she and her classmates returned a month late for the term.

'What happened to you Makie-kun?' the instructor asked herself as her pupil gave a half-hearted effort to a lackluster performance.

"Sasaki-san," the coach called out. "Can I speak with you in my office?"

Instead of sitting forward in her seat, Makie slouched to the back and kept her head down. She appeared nervous, as if fearful of having done something wrong. "I've been noticing you seem distracted during practice," the teacher said in a concerned tone. "Is something bothering you?"

"It's nothing," the girl replied, still keeping her head down. "I've just been thinking about some things."

"What kinds of things?"

"Well … I … um that is to say," Makie said then paused. "I'm quitting the team," she finished in a rush.

"Quitting?" was the coach's shocked response. Gymnastics had been the center of the girl's life. Her dream had been to compete in the Olympic Games. For her to abandon that … "Makie-kun, are you sure?"

She finally looked up at the team coach. Eyes were puffed out, on the verge of tears, but Makie nodded her head in affirmation. "I made up my mind while I was in … in Wales. I just couldn't find the courage to say anything."

"But what about all of your hard work?" Ninomiya-san asked in disbelief. "What about your dream of the Olympics?"

"That was a little girl's dream," Makie answered as she brushed away a tear. "It's time for me to put away such childish nonsense and grow up."

The woman was too stunned to do more than watch as the student excused herself and left. Ninomiya-san accused her of being childish last summer, and she seemed to have matured some afterwards. Briefly, the coach thought of calling the girl back, but decided against it; she needed more information first. 'It's time for a talk with that sensei of hers.'

--

She continued running out of the sports hall, into the chill evening air. Makie clutched the sweater tighter, grateful for its warmth, and wished she had taken the time to don leggings too. She slowed down after 50 or so meters to a walk, continuing to move away. 'Away from the sports hall. Away from the dorm. Away from …,' she paused in her thought. The girl exhaled slowly and watched as a thin, white cloud floated in the air before her. "… Negi-kun," she whispered.

A fist seemed to grip her chest, making it difficult to draw breath. Eyes stung as fat tears, hot against her flesh, rolled down cheeks to plop onto the sweater. From the very first day Negi Springfield walked into her class, Makie found him adorable. Like several of her classmates she squealed, cooed and fawned over the lad from Wales much as she would a puppy. During the next several months Negi unwittingly wound up as the prize in their various competitions, battles she enjoyed. At the same time fondness grew into admiration. In turn, admiration changed into …? 'Into what?' she wondered.

Words like caring, attachment and devotion sprung up in unbidden answer to her question. 'Lo …,' Makie started but clenched down, unable to complete the thought; however, having tasted freedom, the notion refused to be caged again. "I love Negi-kun," she admitted to the evening air. "But he doesn't love me."

So bitter were the words on her tongue, Makie had an urge to spit them out. Yet the teen couldn't deny their truth. After Negi saved their lives in the crumbling ruins of Ostia, she watched her teacher and her best friend kiss. Had Ako stabbed her with a knife, it couldn't have hurt so badly.

Dimly the girl heard a gurgling noise and realized she had wandered by the river. The tap of footsteps on the stone bridge echoed as she walked over to the barrier and peered down at the surface hidden in the gloom. 'Dark and empty,' Makie thought. 'Like me.' She listened to the sounds of water as it moved in its stately passage to the sea. It was so musical, like a song welcoming her home.

Clambering onto the lip of the barrier, she was entranced by the melody. Here was the place for her; a place where no pain could touch her. Makie shut her eyes to the world and concentrated on the sound. Her lips pulled back in a blissful smile as she stepped forward.

"It's a lovely night out isn't it?" a voice called out of the darkness. Her eyes snapped open as the water's spell broke. Makie turned to the speaker, a strange boy, close to her age with jet black hair that covered ears and neck, and a small cowlick in back that stuck straight up. He sat upon the barrier, not a few meters from where she stood. "But isn't it a tad chilly for a dip?"

Embarrassed at being discovered, Makie could feel warmth from the blood rushing to her cheeks. "Who are you?" she asked the stranger.

Illuminated by the street lamps, his mouth twisted into an amused grin. "I'll tell you but you'll probably think it sounds goofy," the boy replied. "It's Icelus."

"What kind of name is that?"

"I'll answer that if you'll step down from there," the dark-haired boy said as he lifted a hand towards her. "Unless you really do want an evening swim." His words were punctuated by little, white puffs that rose into the air and faded.

The sound of the river floated up as Makie debated then took the proffered hand and stepped down. "It's Greek," he told her.

"So you're from Greece Icelus-san?"

"No I'm from Thrace."

The student's face screwed up in concentration as Makie tried to recall her geography. "I don't remember where Thrace is."

"Don't worry about it," Icelus responded. "Greece is close enough. Are you hungry?"

"No," she started to answer when her traitorous stomach rebelled at the thought of turning down food. "Well maybe a little," she sheepishly admitted.

The café was quieter than the places Makie normally hung out at, but it was warm inside and tonight at least, quiet was a welcomed change. When the waitress brought their order, the girl realized she hadn't eaten since noon and fell to with a gusto that surprised herself. Afterwards, she speared a bit of desert with her fork and asked her companion, "So what is Thrace like?"

"Lots of hills, meadows, trees and rocks," he replied between bites. "It's actually kind of boring."

"You looked troubled earlier," the boy remarked as her fork cut another piece from the cheesecake. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yes," she answered reflexively then cast her eyes down to the table. "No, not really."

"Maybe I can help," Icelus said as he reached into a coat pocket. A small, cloth bundle, no bigger than the tip of the boy's thumb, lay in his palm.

"What's that supposed to be?"

"This is the stuff that dreams are made of," he replied enigmatically.

"Huh?"

"The powder in this packet is called Substantia Somnium, or dream essence," the dark-eyed boy explained. "You can use this to create your own dreams."

Makie looked askance at both her companion and the pouch in his hand. A hundred little, sordid news reports and cautionary tales flashed through her mind, setting off alarm bells. 'Never accept candy from a stranger' she had been warned; now the student had to wonder about this 'helpful stranger.' "So how will this help me?"

"A lot of unhappiness in this world stems from not knowing what we want," he responded. "Sometimes our true desires are buried so deeply, we aren't even aware they exist. During dreams, we let down our barriers and those desires are easily accessed."

Without realizing it, the young girl's eyes were drawn to the pouch as Icelus continued to speak. "The dream essence can help you discover the truth," he said, sounding more and more reasonable as he went along. "And knowing what will make you happy is the first step in achieving it."

"How does this dream stuff work?" Makie asked.

In response, he opened the bag and dipped the end of his little finger inside. It came back out with a smudge of a silver-grey powder that glittered as he moved the finger back and forth. "Just a small amount," he answered then licked the smudge off. "The closer you take it to sleep, the more lucid your dream."

Taking her hand, Icelus put the bag in it and closed her fingers into a fist. "My gift to you," the boy from Thrace said. "Men have offered fortunes for this, but all I ask is that you trust me."

--

Makie stood in the bathroom of her dorm room and stared down at the packet in her hand. She wore a pale, pink nightshirt; the white cat's face centered on her chest gazed unblinkingly at the indecisive girl reflected in the mirror.

"Trust me," she snorted, finding that trust was in short supply at the moment. "I trusted Ako and look what that got me," the teen muttered bitterly as the image of her best friend's arms wrapped around their homeroom teacher reared up against her will. Again Makie felt twin daggers, one blazing hot the other icy cold, plunge into her heart as their lips met and the air shimmered about the pair. She loved Ako like a sister; how could her friend do that to her?

Her attention returned to the dream essence. 'Could this really help me find happiness,' she desperately wondered.

'You were about to jump into a river a little while ago,' she reminded herself. 'What have you got to lose?'

--

'God you're nothing but a fool,' Makie fumed while school crawled by with agonizing slowness. She seethed at the thought of the Thracian boy laughing with his buddies at finding a girl gullible enough to believe his nonsense. 'Dream essence my foot,' the student thought savagely, despising herself for being the butt of someone's joke. Ayaka-san had once said she failed at being herself. For once, Makie had to agree with the class rep's assessment.

To top off her humiliation, she was the only one to fail the English quiz. Even Asuna passed, much to Makie's chagrin. Baka Pink would be the only one to stay after class today. Finally, the last bell rang and her classmates filed out, leaving her and the diminutive teacher behind. Negi called her to the front of the room where he had her recent test papers spread out. To call them abysmal would have been too generous. Inwardly, the student cringed through the procession as her scores spiraled ever lower.

"At this rate," Negi told her, "you'll overtake Asuna-san for the bottom of the entire grade."

Unable to speak, Makie fought back the hot tears of shame that threatened to break forth. 'I really am an idiot,' she thought, wishing for a rock to crawl under.

"More importantly Makie-san, I want you to know something," the boy teacher continued. "I love you."

The sudden admission rendered the girl incapable of coherent thought. Her mouth opened but no sound came as if all the air had been pressed out. The boy's face took on that almost grown-up look she so adored. "It's taken me this long to realize it," he confessed in that serious manner of his, "but you're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with."

Negi's hands gently pulled her face down to his and their lips met and moved against each others. Makie's eyes opened wide as his tongue thrust deeply into her mouth. To her amazement, her tongue darted back in response, twinning about his like loose threads in an overturned case. Feeling fingers fumble with the buttons of her blouse, all she could do was moan in reply.

He seemed to touch her everywhere at once, awaking each tiny nerve ending and setting them on fire. Dimly she was aware of being pushed back onto the table as sensation after sensation washed over her like ocean waves lapping at the shoreline. Pressure built within her like a balloon being overinflated. Greater and greater it grew until the girl was sure it would burst. Her back arched as she shoved upward, at once the pressure released in an explosion, leaving her spent and gasping.

Still panting heavily, Makie opened her eyes to be welcomed by her darkened room. Sheets were twisted tightly about her body and the fabric of her bed clothes felt damp and sticky against her skin. 'It was just a dream,' she thought, vividly recalling every passionate moment. 'All a dream.'

* * *

I typed the last punctuation mark while Makie, Miss Pink Ribbon, watched over my shoulder and nodded her head in approval. "Not bad," she commented. "But don't you think you can add a little more, uh spice to my scene with Negi-kun?"

"You want to keep a 'T' rating?"

"Oh okay," she replied with a slight pout. "Now about the second chapter …"

"It can wait till the morning," I declared then proceeded to shut down the computer. "You may be on Tokyo time but it is midnight here."

"So where do we sleep?" the dark-haired girl, Yuna I thought, asked.

"There's a bedroom at this end of the hallway and one at the other," I informed them. "You girls figure it out from there."

Flopping onto the bed, I considered calling the sheriff's office but quickly discarded that idea. The last thing I wanted was to explain why three underage females and I were alone in the house. The police officer's imagined conversation would start something like 'So the three girls overpowered you, threatened you with a satin ribbon and a pair of soccer shoes, and forced you to write them a story.' Sadly, I shook my head and muttered "Yeah, I'd believe that,"

'Of course it doesn't help that they're cute,' I thought then recoiled from it. 'Oh man, don't even go there.'

'Just finish their story tomorrow and get them out,' was my final thought before turning out the light.

**

* * *

**

A/N: Icelus is the name for one of the Greek gods of dreams. He was the personification of nightmares and his name translates to semblance.

**Ben Crawford has appeared in another story of mine where he was flash frozen and eaten by a wendigo. I thought he deserved a better fate, but he might disagree at the moment. Hang in there Ben.**

**The chapter title comes from a quote by Langston Hughes. 'Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.'**

**I hope you enjoyed this and that you'll come back for the next chapter. Whether you liked it or not, let me know what you thought.**


	2. Dream a Little Dream of Me

**A/N: Act II, scene one begins the morning after Act I ends. **

**Ken Akamatsu owns Negima and the characters used, save for Ben Crawford and Icelus which are my OCs.**

**The following conventions are used: **"words", 'thoughts', "**spells**", '_reading_'

* * *

The radio clicked on as the alarm clock reached 5:30 AM. Had this been my house I would have been listening to something by Cold Play or Linkin Park, but since it wasn't, I woke to the sound of the news channel. "The National Weather Center has issued a winter storm warning for much of the Midwest," the announcer said gravely. "Sleet mixed with snow is expected as are heavy accumulations of ice. State officials recommend stocking up on essential food, medicine and clothing items."

I shut the radio off, stood and stretched. 'What a weird dream,' I thought as I got dressed. 'I mean, if I'm going to be at the mercy of three girls, why couldn't they be my age?'

As I passed the bathroom, I noticed that the door was closed and the light on. Being into conserving energy, I opened the door and was greeted by a shriek as I found the room occupied by one of my "dream" girls. I quickly shut the door and stood with my back against it while my heart thudded wildly in my chest. "S-s-sorry," I managed to croak, unsure as to which of us was the more embarrassed.

One of my strengths is the ability to objectively evaluate a situation and take decisive action. At that moment I made my evaluation and decisively got out of the house, spending the next hour preparing for the expected storm, bringing in the patio furniture, chopping firewood and putting a fresh light bulb in the pump house to ensure the motor stayed warm enough to function. The eastern sky had started to turn grey by the time I walked back inside. As I entered the kitchen, hands held securely under my arms, I discovered that the coffee pot still held a thin remnant from the previous evening. After several seconds in the microwave, the warmth from the steaming cup soaked into chilled fingers.

A shapely leg appeared in the doorway, distracting me enough that some of the hot liquid splashed out of the mug and over my hand in a perfect illustration of cause and effect. "Son of a …" I started while quickly thrusting my hand under a stream of cold water. Meanwhile a cheery voice greeted me, "Good morning."

"Good morning Izumi-san," I responded, still wincing. "I'm sorry for walking in on you like that. Guess I forgot I had company."

"At least it wasn't as bad as some of the things Asuna-san's gone through," Ako commented. Noticing my current position she asked "Are you okay?"

After explaining that I had carelessly burnt myself, she got some ice cubes out and carefully wrapped them around the injured hand with a towel. Seeing me safely seated at the table, Ako started preparing breakfast. My eyes followed her movements much as an automatic targeting system would track a jet's exhaust. As she stood on her tip toes to reach a shelf, I decided that girls who wore short skirts were one of the true joys in life. I was about to take a drink when she said, "Looks like you're out of coffee."

"There's a new can under the sink," I replied without thinking.

The manga equation is really simple: girl in short skirt 'plus' bends over 'equals' nose bleed. It's so cliché that it should be second nature. However, the real world is never that simple. Picture the following series of actions and reactions; I take a mouthful of coffee as Ako bends over. Little neurons pass the image, from hand to hand, up to the brain which in turn sends a signal back to start the nose hemorrhaging. However, the lungs, on their own authority, decide it would be a bad thing to swallow under the circumstances so they direct the caffeine-laden liquid upwards. The said liquid blasts through my nasal cavity under high pressure, instantly cauterizing blood vessels. I rock back in pain, striking the window sill with my head while the remaining coffee finds its way into my lap. By the time Yuna pops out of her room to find out what all the noise is about, I'm in a sorry state.

All of which led me to the first of what I call Ben Crawford's Laws of Manga. Law #1: For every action, there is a hugely disproportionate and opposite reaction.

* * *

**Dream a Little Dream of Me**

He paced back and forth across the otherwise deserted plaza. Every now and then the dark-haired boy with the cowlick would blow into cupped hands, chilled by the pre-dawn air. Icelus was both restless and amused at his own impatience. The number of dawns he had greeted over the years faded into insignificance, but the expectation never waned.

A small bird, with banded brown and white feathers, darted close and circled overhead. The waiting boy extended his hands and the creature dropped a single filament inside then perched upon a nearby limb. The slender thread glowed silver in the murky light and seemed no more substantial than a spider's web.

The strand turned vaporous as the boy raised cupped hands to face. He inhaled the little smoke-like wisps, savoring her scent as it filled him with a dreadful longing. 'Soft and fresh like a newly opened rose,' he thought, consumed by a heady excitement. The self-proclaimed merchant breathed in even more, drawing every last bit of her within himself. The taste was sweet, far sweeter than he had experienced in many years.

The Thracian looked eastward as Eos began her ascent above the ridgeline, heralding the start of a new day. The sky turned blood-red at her coming and the banded cuckoo piped up in greeting. "**Luos**!" Icelus cried, stopping his winged minion in mid-song. Little grains fell from its head and then it dissolved, leaving naught by a pile of fine, black sand.

All too soon the rush of sensations ended, but the girl lingered on in his senses. 'This is but the first,' he told himself, knowing that she had enough essence for many more dreams.

--

Makie sat in her front row chair, trying to pay attention as Nodoka read aloud from their text, but the student's thoughts kept straying back to that morning's dream. The boy she met last night, Icelus, had said his powder could reveal what she truly desired, the first step to finding happiness. But her dream was nothing like she had expected, consisting as it did of making out with her homeroom teacher. 'Is sex what I really want?' the girl asked herself. 'With Negi-kun?'

Memories of how her body responded made her pulse race. The student could clearly recall how his touch had excited her, how cool his lips felt against her skin, moving languorously from mouth to neck to …. "Oh!" she cried out in surprise as hands flew to cheeks now blushing furiously red.

"Makie-san, are you alright?" she heard Negi ask.

The teen looked up at her teacher's worried face and felt all the more embarrassed for being the cause of it. "I'm sorry," she replied dropping her gaze to the desk.

"Your face is terribly flushed," the boy observed. "Are you feeling ill?"

Makie could hear several, soft snickers behind her as she answered, "No, I'm … I'm fine Negi-kun."

"Then why don't you read the next verse?" he asked. Seeing her vexed expression, Negi hastily added, "It's the seventh verse, the one that starts 'But Mousie'."

Ignoring the continued snickers, she stood, clutching the book of poems and began to read aloud. "But Mousie, thou art no … thy lane … in proving fore … sight may be vain."

"The best laid scheme o' mice and men," here she paused, trying to puzzle out the next phrase. Haltingly, she continued to read, "Gang … aft … a … agley."

"And lea'e us naught but grief and pain, for promis'd joy," Makie finished in a final rush of words.

"Very good Makie–san," Negi commended, bringing a shy smile in response. Unfortunately, his next words wiped it clean away. "Now, what does it mean?"

For once, it seemed that fate was merciful as the bell rang. "We'll continue our discussion tomorrow," Negi said as he gathered his papers together. "And Makie-san, I'd like to speak with you after class."

Students fled as the school day ended, leaving Makie to clean the classroom. Clack, clack, clack went the erasers as the student banged them together, releasing a cloud of white dust into in the waste bin. 'I wonder what Negi-kun wants to talk about,' the girl thought as she replaced them on the blackboard. Again, she recalled her dream and in response, her stomach felt as it did when plunging down the steepest drop of a rollercoaster.

Finished with cleaning, she had been sitting when her homeroom teacher finally walked in. "Sorry Makie-san," the boy apologized. "I was held up in a faculty meeting." Negi opened his briefcase and began to set papers down on the front desk.

"Wh—what are you doing Negi-kun?" she asked as a feeling of unease descended upon the teen.

"These are your recent test papers," he replied. "Come on up and take a look."

Reluctantly, the girl stood, trying to suppress the trembling in her limbs. Makie knew her scores were poor, but that wasn't the cause of her hesitation as she approached the desk. 'I can do this,' she stubbornly told herself as feet sluggishly moved forward.

"At this rate, you're going to overtake Asuna-san at the bottom for the entire grade," Negi said in a concerned voice drawing a fearful gasp from Makie. "More importantly, I wanted to tell you something."

"I …" he started, but before another word could leave the boy's lips, the overwrought girl screamed "No!" and dashed out of the room as if pursued by the very devil himself. A thoroughly baffled Negi could only watch as the door swung slowly shut in his student's wake.

Makie raced from the school building, passing several of her classmates and members of the gymnastics club. Ignoring their shouts, the girl continued running at full tilt, stopping only when the pain in her side grew unbearable. With hands upon knees, she stood panting for breath.

'I need a place to rest,' the student thought, still frightened by her recent encounter. 'A place where I can be alone.'

Makie looked up to find herself at the bridge leading to the sprawling complex called Library Island. She shuddered at the memory of her adventures as the Baka Rangers went in search of the mysterious Book of All Answers, or whatever it was Ayase-san had called it. The library was dangerous, but no one would think to look for her there she reasoned. As the student stepped on the bridge, lights began to glow, illuminating her path against the descending gloom of evening.

Thousands of patrons used the library every day, yet one could wander its twisting corridors of musty tomes without encountering a soul. It had always struck Makie as being unnaturally quiet inside, as if the very air itself acted to muffle sound. The girl wandered down several rows, finding an unoccupied table and chair. Pulling a book from the shelf, she sat down and opened to a random page and started reading.

'_So thou opposest thy cold devil's fist, clenched in impotent malice, to the ever-stirring, the beneficent creating power. Try thy hand at something else, wondrous son of Chaos._'

'Boring,' she thought, leaning back in the chair and glancing up at the plastered ceiling. 'What was Negi-kun going to say?'

Asking one question brought another, followed by another. Did he love her? Why did she run? Was this a mirror of her dream, or was she still dreaming? Still the questions came on until she ducked her head down and cowered underneath her crossed arms. The questions eventually tired of the chase and went home empty-handed to supper. At the thought of food, Makie's stomach rumbled. Reaching into her pocket, her fingers encountered a soft shape. Absent-mindedly, the girl drew out the pouch of dream essence and a thought suddenly bloomed.

'I can make a dream with this,' the girl realized. 'And if they come true …'

Makie tore open the tiny bag and poured the remaining contents into her hand. She swallowed the powder, making a face at its grittiness, then laid her head back down and closed her eyes. Soon, lost in slumber, little snores issued from her lips.

--

Ako sat in her dorm room, hunched over the small, writing desk and transcribed her hastily scribbled notes onto a fresh sheet of paper. It made reviewing for tests so much easier, not to mention she could just let Makie look at it on test morning rather than try to explain everything to her on the way to school. 'Not that she's been talking much to me lately,' the girl thought. For the hundredth time during the last hour, she glanced at the alarm clock and wondered where her friend was. 'Probably practicing for sports day.'

Makie had seemed so depressed since they returned to school and so standoffish that Ako wondered what had happened to upset her roommate. Makie hadn't come down with some strange, Magic World fever and nearly died. She hadn't been made a slave and subjected to torture, or waited outside the emergency room while healers tried to save Nagi's, er Negi's arm Ako corrected herself. And she didn't find out that the guy she was head over heels for was her 10-year old teacher enchanted to look older.

'Now that's a reason to be upset,' the short-haired girl thought, still feeling more than a twinge of resentment. When Ako had discovered the deception and that her teacher had been kissing the students in his class, she saw red; it was surprising that her slap didn't leave a larger bruise. However, despite her justification, the class health rep had felt guilty about striking a kid, a feeling that grew worse when Hasegawa-san explained what Negi had tried to do for her during the festival and since.

The point was driven home even harder as they scrambled through the ruins of Ostia. Sensei was hurt, bleeding from a number of small wounds and unable to move another inch. As she fretted over being unable to help him, Ako finally understood why her classmates had done what they did and what she had to do. The girl's hand brushed against the pocket of her jacket, feeling the outline of the card tucked inside.

Ako didn't know the answers to a lot of questions: why the sky is blue, or why girls fall for the wrong guys, or even what the word pactio meant. It would be nice to talk with a friend and try to figure them out. A gentle tapping on the door interrupted her reflection.

Negi-sensei, his brow furrowed with deep lines of worry, stood in the hallway. "Is Makie-san here?"

"No she isn't," Ako replied. "I haven't seen her since school ended."

"Did you know she quit the gymnastics club last night?" the youngster asked. The girl's expression of shock was answer enough. "The faculty advisor informed me this morning."

"I was about to ask Makie-san about it when she screamed "No" and ran out of the room," he explained. "She seemed so distraught, that I'm concerned about her safety."

"Ako-san," he continued, "do you have any idea where she might be?"

--

'Thirsty,' Makie thought. 'So very thirsty.' Her throat felt parched and a thin, sand-like film coated the insides of her mouth. Unsteadily, the girl rose from the table and began searching for a water fountain. Ingesting the remainder of the dream essence wasn't such a good idea she decided as a vile taste, not unlike metal, lay on the back of her tongue.

Though groggy, the young girl could make out two voices ahead. Rounding the corner, she saw her friend Ako and their teacher together. Quickly, the student dodged back behind a shelf and listened.

"What did you want to see me about?" Negi asked.

"I wanted to be with you Negi-kun," she heard Ako respond. "It's so difficult to be around you all day and not be able to do this."

Makie could easily picture actions to match the sounds she heard next. 'They're lovers,' she thought as fists pushed against eyes scrunched up tight. 'I can't stand it,' the little gymnast wailed like a soul in torment. 'I want to die!'

A laugh, deep and sinister, rumbled through the room, followed by the cry of "**Sagitta Magica!**" Makie opened her eyes as a light flared to sudden life, causing spots to float before her eyes. A great crashing noise came from where the couple had been as the girl stood blinking in her hiding spot. Cautiously, she peered around her shelter.

The cubicle looked as if a wind storm had rampaged through it. The table and chairs were overturned and several book cases had been knocked over like so many dominos. Ako lay on the floor amid a jumble of leather bound volumes. Makie knelt next to the other girl, grabbing her wrist and was rewarded by a pulse.

"Negi-kun," the light-haired girl moaned. "Must find … Negi-kun."

Makie stood, forgetting both pain and thirst for the moment. She didn't feel right about leaving Ako in this position, but compared to their missing teacher, her roommate seemed safe. Heading in the direction she thought the shout came from, the sports girl began her pursuit.

Down dusty corridors and dimly lit stairways, the student followed the laughter further into the depths of the library. Anger grew in her heart as Makie felt the scorn and mockery in that laugh, challenging the foolhardy girl to rush headlong into danger. She dashed into the next room and found herself on top of a massive bookcase, staring down into what seemed a bottomless pit. The man, carrying Negi slung over a shoulder, raced towards the far side.

Her hand snapped forward and the ribbon's end wrapped about the chain of an overhead lamp. Makie swung over the yawning chasm, landing on the next case, and repeated the maneuver twice more, cutting the unknown figure's lead. The chase continued into a book lined passage. She saw a half dozen arrows fire at her quarry, but they bounced away as if striking an unseen barrier. Without slacking speed, the gymnast counted steps and leapt, dodging one arrow, landed on her hands and sprung over a second. Another jump evaded the third missile but she landed in a tucked position and rolled once, twice, and thrice, avoiding the last three arrows.

Finally, they reached a spherical chamber deep under the ground. Stone causeways arched to the center of the room, meeting at single juncture. A ball of green-colored light hovered above that spot, and the mysterious assailant, still holding an unconscious sensei, ran towards it, with the girl hard on his heels. A landscape of red sand dunes and a darkening sky filled with purple-black clouds appeared within the light. The figure bounded through and Makie could see the scene shift, but couldn't stop her momentum. "Negi-kun!" she shouted as she fell through the opening.

* * *

I waited outside the bathroom door for Yuna to finish, trying not to constantly hop from leg to leg. Many of my fellow males would gladly trade places with me, conveniently forgetting the drawbacks of sharing a roof with three girls. For my part, it's an experience I'd just as soon pass on. The smell of breakfast wafted out of the kitchen, pushing aside thoughts of discomfort as conditioned behavior kicked in. My stomach rumbled and I began to salivate like Pavlov's dogs upon hearing the dinner bell. Ako stepped out of the kitchen and announced that breakfast was ready.

Being such a sweet girl, I wonder why isn't Ako more popular among readers. My guess is that she's overshadowed by Nodoka as the obligatory shy girl frightened by men type. Consider that both of them have strong feelings for Negi/Nagi and they each deeply admire one of the boy's traits. The pair gets tongue-tied whenever they try to express their feelings to him, and yet both possess that same spark of courage that shows all too infrequently. It's a shame that all our little soccer player has to look forward to is more rejection.

"Was the room alright?" I asked.

"It was fine," the short-haired girl answered, "but it was hard to get to sleep with that light shinning in through the window."

"I can't do anything about the security light," I told her. "Maybe we can find a heavier shade to put up."

I was graced with a small smile and a thank you in return. Ako faced the opposite side of the hallway and glanced at the numerous photographs mounted there. "Are these your family?"

"No, they're the owner's family," I replied.

The girl gazed at me in shock. "You mean this really isn't your house?"

"Nope," I answered then walked over and pointed at a picture. "That's the guy you're looking for."

"I'm very sorry Crawford-san."

"Don't worry about it," I responded as two doors opened simultaneously.

"Next," Yuna announced as she exited the bathroom.

Before I could reach the door, Makie scooted inside. "Uh, Sasaki-san," I started to say.

She looked at me with a grin on her face. "I won't be long," she said, winking in reply.

I stood in the hallway and listened to the sound of the shower being turned on. Once I heard the sliding door close, I stomped down the hallway and back into the kitchen. After twisting the setting on the washing machine to hot, I pulled the knob out while turning the hot water tap for the sink. "Er, Crawford-san," Ako started to say but was stopped as Makie's scream filled the air.

"I need to check on the barn," I said, racing to the back door. Revenge may be petty and juvenile, but oh it feels so good, especially when served cold.

**

* * *

**

A/N: The chapter's title comes from the song by the same name written by Louis Armstrong and recorded by the Mamas and the Papas among others.

**Eos is the Greek name for the Goddess of the Dawn, also known as Aurora. Luos means to dissolve in Greek.**

**The poem Makie reads is 'To a Mouse' by Robert Burns and is the source for the line about the best laid plans. Geothe's 'Faust' provides the passage she read in the library. The full quote on revenge is 'revenge is a dish best served cold.' It may be an old Klingon proverb, but the idea has been around for centuries.**

**I hope you all have a happy 4****th**** of July, wherever you might be. **


	3. A Dream within a Dream

**A/N: I wrote several parts of this story as long ago as last winter when much of the Mid-West was frozen solid. The final section of this chapter was one such. I apologize for the difference in style, but I don't feel like editing it after putting so much effort into it previously. Oh, and I know I usually present Evangeline much more sympathetically, but I think the tone of this story demands her darker version.**

**Sony Ninja – Ako doesn't get the whole chapter to herself, after all she's not supposed to be the hero, however she does get the majority this time. I hope you'll enjoy it.**

**Though the last 30 some odd chapters published in Japan have been set in the Magic World, we have a remarkable lack of information about the setting. To help fill the gaps, I've borrowed some bits from Makuhari-Fan01's story 'Ala Alba in the World of Magic.' So if the dragon territories and ofuda trees seem familiar, there's a good reason for it.**

**Ken Akamatsu owns 'Negima' and its characters. I own only OCs Ben and Icelus.**

**The following conventions are used: **"words", 'thoughts', "**spells**", _reading_

* * *

Though referred to as a barn, in reality the building was a stable with a single stall that had been built over 20 years ago. I think the current owner was going to have it torn down until he found out that it and the paddock could be rented to local horse owners concerned about overgrazing their own land.

Checking on its condition took less time that I'd hoped as a north wind quickly drove the temperature below freezing. After closing the paddock gate, I stood for a moment beneath a huge oak tree. Its trunk split into two limbs, both larger than a person could reach their arms around. Last summer, the university gaming group had a picnic on the patio under this tree. Then it provided ample shade, but today the bare branches bent before the wind. Shuddering from the cold, I continued into the house.

The air inside seemed just as frosty. Makie sat on the sofa with a towel wrapped about her damp hair. She didn't say a word, but the if-looks-could-kill glare the teen gave me spoke volumes. I made sure to sit with my back to the wall during breakfast. After the dishes were cleared away, I started to jot down a list: two gallons milk, two loaves of bread, a dozen eggs and three, no four boxes of Kleenex.

"What are you doing Crawford-san?" Ako asked.

"Getting together a shopping list," I explained. "The weather's going to turn nasty and I figured I'd better get to the store now."

Makie chuckled and I glanced up to see her absorbed in reading. Thinking to bribe my way into the girl's good graces, I asked Ako what book her friend was reading.

"She's into Stephen King right now," Ako answered. "That one's 'Misery'."

Makie chuckled again and I crossed book off the list then wrote myself a note to lock the ax up before I left.

**Chapter Three: A Dream Within A Dream**

A fine drizzle fell down on the couple as they walked swiftly along the forest path. Ako, being the taller, held the umbrella above her and Negi's heads. The two had searched in all of the places they could think of but found no trace of the missing student. Finally, the boy decided that they needed further assistance to locate Makie, but when asked who that would be, he cryptically answered "my master."

A glowing ball, about the size of the girl's clenched fist, bobbed in front of them, lighting the hard packed trail. After everything Ako had experienced in the Mundus Magicus, she should be used to such displays but somehow magic seemed out of place in plain, old Mahora. 'I wonder what Negi-kun's master looks like?' she thought to herself. 'He's probably hundreds of years old with long, grey hair and a beard down to his waist.'

A wizened figure wearing a tall, pointed cap and robes embroidered with stars and crescent moons rose up in her mind. 'I wonder if he lives in a tower or maybe a castle,' she continued, painting a picture of a fairy tale castle in her imagination. Brightly colored banners snapped in the wind above impossibly tall, gleaming white towers. A drawbridge spanned the moat and a milk-white unicorn grazed on the lawn. 'Uh, maybe not a unicorn' Ako thought, mentally crossing out the horned beast and replacing it with a chained dragon. The girl shuddered at the imaginary creature she had conjured and unconsciously drew closer to sensei.

The pair passed a screen of pine trees and entered a meadow. Up ahead loomed … a log cabin? Light, warm and inviting, spilled from several lamps outside of the building. The pale-haired girl stopped in her tracks.

"What's wrong Ako-san?" her teacher asked.

"Negi-kun's master lives here?"

"Yes," came the boy's answer.

'No castle? No dragon?' she thought. 'How disappointing.'

A further shock waited as Negi knocked on the door and it opened to reveal a classmate dressed in a French maid's uniform. The green-haired gynoid bowed in greeting. "Good evening Negi-sensei, Izumi-san," Chachamaru said. "How may I help you?"

"Is the master in?" Negi replied, "I need to speak with her on an urgent matter."

'Her?' Ako thought as the robot ushered them into a parlor and went to inform the master of their presence. The girl felt a momentary twinge as the kindly old magician morphed into a voluptuous enchantress clad in a clingy, black dress. As she looked about the room, Ako noted that dolls of assorted shapes and sizes occupied every available surface. A battered, witches hat, its point bent down, hung on a peg next to a child's woolen coat, making the place feel more like a play room than a wizard's lair.

Chachamaru reappeared and beckoned them to follow. Up the stairs they went and into a room that filled the second floor space. Sitting up on the bed, dressed in nothing more than a pair of white, frilly pajamas was none other than student number 26, Evangeline McDowell. Negi knelt before her, inclining his head as he spoke, "Master."

"M-m-m-master?" Ako sputtered. "McDowell-san is your master?"

"Arise my apprentice," the little, blonde-haired girl imperiously commanded. "What's your problem Izumi-san? With your mouth hanging open like that, you look like a fish out of water."

Ako's mouth snapped shut as her teacher rose to his feet. "Makie-san is missing," the young boy explained. "We need your help to find her."

"And why should I care about that air-headed baka?"

"Wha …" Ako started to shout, outraged by Evangeline's callousness, but Negi motioned her to silence.

"You shouldn't, but as her teacher, I do," the young boy answered. "Makie-san has been depressed ever since we returned to Mahora. She's barely spoken to Ako-san or anyone else, and she quit the gymnastics club last night."

"She ran from me when I tried to talk to her, and nobody knows where she is," Negi continued. "Please help us."

A knowing smirk appeared on the little girl's face as she stared at the pair before her. The Dark Evangel had existed for centuries, seeing more than her share of death and suffering over that time, and being the cause of not a small amount of it. Whether one of the brats she was forced to associate with lived or died, mattered not a bit, but a thrill coursed through her to see the son of her hated enemy, the Thousand Master, plead for her aid like a proper supplicant. 'Of course, Sasaki-san and those other dolts were somewhat useful in the past,' the undead mage reasoned. 'It might not be a bad idea to keep them around in case.'

"Very well, I'll help you this once," Evangeline said to both children's relief. "But for my normal fee."

Negi swallowed hard and nodded his head in understanding. "Come sit by me, my apprentice," she said. "Chachamaru, escort our other guest downstairs."

"Wa-wa-wait a minute," Ako stammered. "What's this about a fee?"

"It will be alright," Negi answered as he started to remove his coat. "You'd best go downstairs with Chachamaru-san."

"No I won't!" the indignant girl responded to everyone else's amazement. "What kind of fee requires you to undress and get on her bed?"

A stunned silence cloaked the room until broken by Evangeline's chuckle. "Oh come now Izumi-san," she said with a smug look on her face. "You're 14. That's certainly old enough to understand these things."

The little vampire struggled not to collapse in laughter as both of her visitors' faces colored a brilliant scarlet. "You're welcome to stay and watch if you'd like," the blonde girl told her. "Who knows, you might actually learn something useful."

Negi could hear clicks issue from Ako's mouth as his student failed to find her voice. "Please master," he said. "Don't tease her like that."

Quickly, the boy stepped in front of Ako and clasped her hands. "Ako-san," he called. "Whatever it is you're thinking, that's not what's going to happen."

It was difficult to make himself understood over Evangeline's cackle, but eventually he got through to his stunned student. "It's not?" the girl asked as her face began to resume a normal color.

"I've asked Evangeline-san to cast a spell for me," he explained. "She doesn't have enough power on her own, so she'll need to use some of mine."

"Master will need some of my blood," he finally said.

At the mention of the word blood, Ako's hands went limp in his grasp and her face turned a deathly white. "Your blood?"

Memories several years old forced their way from the vault she had shut them up in. A seven year old girl in her soccer uniform sat in the passenger seat of a blue sports car as it zipped across the highway. Her team's coach, Sugimoto-san, was driving her home even though Ako lived on the far side of the city. Rumor had it that the coach had played for the famed Nankatsu football club, alongside players like Misaki, Wakayabashi and Oroza, not that Ako or any of her teammates recognized those names.

The girl never knew what happened to cause her coach to slam on the brakes, she just knew that the sports car suddenly flipped over and rolled several times, finally coming to a stop on its roof. Blood was everywhere Ako looked and the youngster screamed over and over until overcome by exhaustion. It had taken the emergency crews several hours to cut them out of the wreck. The little girl survived, with a scar across her back as a reminder; Sugimoto-san hadn't been so fortunate. Dimly, she was aware of her teacher speaking.

"Yes," Negi answered. "Now why don't you go downstairs with Chachamaru-san?"

A more recent memory arose into her thoughts. They were struggling to reach the gate at Ostia and Negi had collapsed against a pillar. Bleeding from a score or more of cuts, he lacked the strength to continue on. Ako knew Konoka could heal him, but her classmate and several of the others had been separated during the last battle with the white-haired mage called Fate. In desperation she let the ermine draw his glowing circle and followed his instructions to the letter, kissing the boy who had so devastated her earlier. Now, he was to suffer again, for her sake.

"No!" the girl yelled as suppressed memories fueled her anger. The emotions welling inside of her caused her body to shake in response. "I didn't sit by your bedside for hours when your arm was sliced off, didn't make a pact-whatchamacallit just to watch you bleed now!"

Ako shook her hands loose and rounded on the reclining vampire. "If you want blood, then take mine!"

"Ako-san no!"

"Silence!" Evangeline demanded. The undead mage gazed at the teen-aged girl before her. Like her three friends, Ako also had magical potential, though she was the weakest of the quartet. Still, it was enough for this purpose. Her mouth opened wide, revealing gleaming white fangs. "Do you understand what you're saying?"

Ako shuddered and then answered, "I understand enough."

"Master," Negi started but Evangeline forestalled his protest with a raised hand.

Her classmate slid off the bed and stood upon the bare, wood floor. "Come stand by me," she was instructed. Ako shivered, but stepped forward none the less. "Give me your arm."

"You can step outside if you want boya," the little girl said before sinking her teeth into the fleshy part of Ako's forearm.

Pain shot upwards as fangs punched through skin into the muscle below. Evangeline's mouth felt slimy against her flesh and the slurping sounds the vampire made her shudder in revulsion. The girl wanted to be sick, to run screaming from the room and to fall on the ground in a quivering mass all at the same time. How she avoided passing out when Evangeline lifted a blood-smeared mouth from her arm, Ako never knew.

"Chachamaru, see to her arm," the little mage ordered her servant. After licking the excess blood from her lips, the vampire paused in thought. "That one ought to do."

"**Lic lac la lac lilac, corpus santos, fulgorem effigie,**" Evangeline chanted and a spark of flame appeared in the air before her. "**Ego vollo, tu subvenio invenio**"

The blue tongue of flame darted over to Ako and hovered in front of her. "What's going on?"

"Is that St. Elmo's fire?" Negi asked.

"Very good boya," Evangeline answered. "Since I used Izumi-san's blood, it will respond to her directions. Order it to find Sasaki-san and it will unerringly lead you to her."

"Th-thank you Master."

"In the future, don't waste my time on trifles boya," the Dark Evangel replied. "Chachamaru, see our guests to the door."

--

When one considered how noisy students generally were, Ako wondered at the pervasive quiet of the library. Even those girls in her class most prone to chatter, say Haruna-san or the twins, would fall silent not long after passing through the doors. It was definitely not the place to expect to find her roommate, but the flickering blue flame danced down the aisles of books, leading her and Negi on.

The student concentrated on an image of Makie to keep the little sprite moving as her teacher glanced nervously about. Ako wouldn't consider a library dangerous; in fact she had laughed off her friend's stories of the Baka Ranger's adventures in its hidden chambers as a tall tale. But after having seen magic in a hundred different forms, the fair-haired girl dared not scoff; such disbelief could be fatal.

Still, to think that her homeroom teacher was a wizard and her classmate a vampire was nearly more than she could accept, yet there was no way to deny the tiny puncture marks on her arm. Ako shivered at the memory of McDowell-san's mouth, hot against her skin, sipping blood from those wounds. And what bothered her most was how familiar it had seemed. However, an event like that was something the student would never forget.

They rounded a corner and the flame darted forward, finally hanging above the missing girl's head. "Makie," Ako cried and rushed to her side. Her friend's head lay upon the open pages of a book and it appeared that she slept. She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and gently shook it. "Makie," she called with no response.

"What's wrong Ako-san?" Negi asked as the class health rep placed a hand against the sleeping girl's forehead then watched as she moved it to the side of Makie's throat and looked down at her wrist watch.

"This is bad sensei," Ako told him. "Her skin's cold to the touch, her breathing is shallow and her pulse weak."

"We need help then," the boy said as he pulled a pactio card out and held it to his forehead.

--

Makie lay sprawled on the ground and the air about her held a faint fragrance of lemon. Pushing to her knees, the girl glanced around, noting the 2 meter tall stalks of grass, their tops gently swaying, which surrounded her. The vegetation had served to cushion her fall somewhat, but had left little cuts along on her hands and legs.

Above her head hung a sun that shone down upon a world different from the one she had been born on. Without question, the middle school student knew that this was the Mundus Magicus, though not a section she had been to before. The area of Tempe Terra she and Yuna had wound up in was desert; save for the occasional oasis, like where the truck stop they had worked at was located. And the ground below the floating islands of Ostia was a rocky wasteland, devoid of plant life save for mosses that clung tenaciously to their hold in the misty vales.

Where ever she was, Makie knew it was far away from Negi-kun. Night had begun to fall across that dune covered landscape, while the position of the sun indicated noontime here. She would find her teacher, the girl promised, find him and bring him back to Mahora. But to do that, she had to first find help for herself. The tall grasses restricted her view so she fixed on the only available reference and headed towards the sun.

One wouldn't think that walking through grass would be an arduous undertaking, but pushing the stalks aside for several hours left the girl tired and sweaty. Clouds of black, flying insects buzzed around her and no amount of arm waving would dissuade them from their mission to dog her steps and annoy unmercifully. When Makie found the game trail, she could have wept for joy. Wild animals of any world posed a danger, but the trail's presence meant there should be water nearby.

Sure enough, a stream was less than an hour away. She carefully searched the banks for any signs of wildlife. The girl had been taken unawares once after finding a jumble of odd looking, white rocks alongside the trail. Thinking to get a view over the plants, the gymnast hopped onto a boulder that was nearly as tall as her, only to have it wobble beneath her feet as it stood and began to walk.

For the second time that day, Makie tumbled into the grass. From her vantage, the student saw four stubby, fur covered legs, each ending in claws as long as the teen's fingers, move with a tortoise-like gait. A single, brown eye noted her presence but after deciding she posed no threat, the beast continued to plod forward. Fortunately it moved as quickly as a tortoise and she was able to race far ahead.

Spotting no other creatures, save for those persistent flies, the girl knelt down and slurped the cool, sweet water from cupped hands. Sated for the moment, Makie sat back on her heels and discovered she was no longer alone.

On the opposite bank, a creature about the size of small dog sat on its haunches and regarded her. It had a squirrel-like face and fur colored dark brown on the top shading into a golden orange. The animal went suddenly rigid and a feeling of impending doom gripped the young girl. Without knowing why, she felt the urge to run away, as far and as fast as her feet could go. A high pitched voice hissed at her, "Don't move, not a muscle."

"Wha…"

"Shsss," the voice warned. "Quiet or we're both lost."

Makie held her breath as the compulsion to flee grew stronger with each passing second. Once, when she was about 6 years old, she had come across a mouse caught in trap, but still very much alive. How it had thrashed about in a vain effort to get free until the school's janitor scooped it up and carried it away. The girl now understood how the rodent must have felt as she could feel her resistance wavering under this unseen onslaught. Before it crumbled away entirely, a shadow, as large as Ayaka-san's jet, passed overhead. She remained locked in her seiza position while the fear slowly trickled away. At last, the creature relaxed. "Whew," it said. "That was close."

"You … you … you talk?"

"Of course I talk," the animal replied testily. "And if I didn't, we'd have both wound up as a snack for that dragon."

Makie's face became ashen in color. "Dragon?" she said in a stunned tone. "That was a dragon?"

"Certainly it was dragon," she heard. "What else would you expect inside of the dragon territories?"

Makie had heard about dragons during her previous trip, but not about a territory of them. "Where am I?"

The animal cocked its head to the side and regarded the confused teen for a moment. "You're in Sabrina, in the north of the Elysium continent."

"How far is this from Tempe Terra?"

"Is that where you're from?" the rodent asked in amazement. "How did a two-legger like you get here?"

"I fell through a hole," Makie responded.

"That was a pretty deep hole then," the creature told her. "Tempe Terra is on the other side of the world."

--

Tall grasses had given way to a canopy of tree limb and leaves. The smell of rotting vegetation was strong as Makie picked her way over roots and around trunks while following her brown and orange furred guide. "So Kae-san," Makie said, "why do dragons need negotiators?"

Following a trail the girl was unable to detect, the animal tried to explain, "Dragons desire some things that they are unable to make them for themselves, but think haggling is beneath them."

"So we in the Shokken Kawase do the bargaining for them," Kae continued.

For her part, Makie couldn't care about the world of business, but conversing with another creature gave her a sense of comfort. Even if the creature was 40 centimeters long and covered in fur. "So do you handle all of their bargaining?"

"Not all," the negotiator replied. "The ermines have a lock on the ofuda tree harvests but we have the dragon horn market sewn up."

"There's a dragon horn market?"

"Sure, dragons shed their horns every so often and sometimes their mating rituals get a little rough," Kae told her. "You'd be surprised what kind of demand there is for powdered dragon horn."

When she and Yuna landed in Tempe Terra, they had supported themselves by working at a truck stop along a major highway, so Makie realized that commerce existed in the Magic World. It struck her as wrong somehow that dragons and rodents would be conversant with economic forecasts and commodity options. The student pictured a dragon banging a gavel to open the Fantasy Land Stock Market while an army of little, furry creatures scurried across the floor, completing thousands of transactions.

"Why the big sigh Makie-san?"

"No reason," the girl answered. "Is your headquarters much further?"

"Not too," came the reply. "In fact, we're here."

Makie found herself suddenly surrounded by several dozen creatures like her guide; all deciding to talk at once.

"Hey! Look what Kae dragged in!"

"Wow, is that a real two-legger? I thought they were a myth."

"Kind of reminds me of a tree hugger only with less fur."

"And shorter nails."

"Doesn't smell any better though."

"What's all the chatter about?" another voice shouted, quieting the others. Several of the animals scurried out of the way as another, apparently one in authority, approached the group. The newcomer saw Makie and stopped in its tracks. "Oh Kae, you didn't bring home another stray?"

Her guide stepped forward. "Um, Kiri this is Makie-san from Tempe Terra. She got lost after falling through a hole."

The rodent sat back and studied the human girl. "Don't tell me, you were following a white rabbit?"

"No, my school teacher," the gymnast answered.

After reminding the others they had work to complete, Kiri Kawase sat down as Makie tried to explain her situation. "So let me see if I understand this. Your teacher, a powerful wizard, was knocked unconscious and captured by another wizard?" The girl nodded her head in agreement. "They stepped through a trans-dimensional portal and you jumped in after?"

Again Makie nodded and Kiri's whiskers twitched. "Now you're stranded deep in dragon territory and haven't a clue where your teacher is?"

"Um, well there are the red sand dunes," she offered.

"Yes, we must not forget those; that makes all the difference," the creature replied with a sarcasm lost on the distraught girl. "The best thing to do would be to see you get to the nearest city and that means … Kae!"

Her guide snapped to. "Yes ma'am!"

"Take her to the Omamori."

--

Negi stepped into the cabin for a second time that evening and shook off the rain as Chachamaru closed the door behind him. He handed the robot a small, cloth pouch and said simply, "Give this to the master."

A few moments later, he heard the clattering of bare feet down the stairs. Evangeline still dressed in her pajamas walked into the room, holding out the bag. "Where did you get this boya?"

"We found Makie-san unconscious," he told her. "That was in her hand."

"She's slipped into a coma and Konoka can't heal her," the boy continued. "What is that stuff?"

"Something that the mere possession of will get you turned into an ermine for a generation or two," the vampire replied. "And if that idiot ingested this, there's no way to heal her."

"What is it master?"

"It's called Substantia Somnium." Evangeline replied. "Follow me."

"Dream Essence?" Negi said as they walked upstairs. "Why does it have such a stiff punishment?"

"Because a person under its influence could be easily manipulated," the blond-haired mage answered. "This little pouch full would fetch 2 million drachma in the Magic World's black market."

Negi was stunned as an elixir that could cure all diseases cost only half that amount. "But where could Makie-san have gotten this from?"

Evangeline scanned her bookshelves as she spoke. "Unless she found it on your little field trip, my guess is that we have an Oneiros at Mahora." She plucked a book from the shelf, exclaiming "Ovid's Metamorphoses, that's the one."

Quickly she flipped through the pages, eventually finding what she sought. "Read this," the mage commanded as she thrust the book out.

_The father Somnus chose from among his sons, his thronging thousand sons, one who in skill excelled to imitate the human form; Morpheus his name, than whom none can present more cunningly the features, gait and speech of men, their wonted clothes and turn of phrase. He mirrors only men; another forms the beasts and birds and the long sliding snakes. The gods have named him Icelos; here below the tribe of mortals call him Phobetor. A third, excelling in an art diverse, is Phantasos; he wears the cheating shapes of earth, rocks, water, trees--inanimate things. To kings and chieftains these at night display their phantom features; other dreams will roam among the people, haunting common folk. _

"I don't understand," Negi said.

"Over the centuries, man has sought many ways to gain immortality," Evangeline told him. "One way was to shed the mortal body and exist as a spirit. The Oneiroi were once men who crossed that threshold in the vain belief they were becoming gods. Instead they stripped away their humanity and found themselves spirits that could no longer experience emotions but hungering for them all through their miserable existence."

From the expression on her face, Negi wasn't sure his master was referring only to these others.

"They traded dream essence to humans offering them the chance to fashion their own dreams," Evangeline continued. "In return the Oneiroi received some of the bargainer's soul, enabling them to feel again for a short time."

"Why would Makie do such a thing?"

"You can't be that stupid boya," Evangeline replied. "Think back earlier, to how you said the brat was behaving."

His face flushed at that, and then a different look came over Negi, one that was determined and showed more than a trace of recklessness to it. She had caught flashes of it during their battle this past spring and again as he faced Chao in the skies above Mahora. It was a look Evangeline had seen in someone else too.

"You said she can't be healed," Negi stated. "But there's something I can do to help Makie-san isn't there?"

The Dark Evangel smiled at her apprentice as she responded, "That all depends on how dirty you're willing to get."

* * *

Rain, mixed with sleet, fell for most of the afternoon, leaving the world outside my window coated in a thick glaze of ice. Everything glistened as if it was some enchanted winter scene, but I could see power lines and tree limbs sag underneath the dangerous weight.

Throughout the evening, trees older than the neighboring homes creaked and popped in the still, night air. Sometimes they shook off their encasement, sending a shower of ice, leaves and twigs rattling earthward. Sometimes a branch, pressed past the point of endurance, rent the air with a crack and plummeted downwards, to be caught by another branch or to crash upon the frozen ground.

I laid upon my bed, stared at the darkness overhead and listened to the sounds of a world falling apart around me. Looking at the lighted display of the bed-side clock, I was disgusted to find it only a little past midnight.

After another branch hurtled to the ground, the door to the adjoining bedroom swung open and I heard the soft tread of bare feet across the hallway carpet. "Excuse me, are you awake?" a soft voice called from my doorway.

"What is it Izumi-san?" I asked. "Is the security light still bothering you?"

"No, that's fine now," came a hesitant reply. "The last crash was kind of scary."

I could only agree with that.

"Could I spend the night in here?" Ako asked and I imagined her linking fingers together and twisting her hands back and forth.

A million thoughts flashed through my mind at her question. Most ended with me being hauled away in handcuffs to spend the next 15 years in a penal institution, guarding my backside from big guys named Bubba.

"I'm scared," she said and that finished me right then.

"Sure," I replied. I heard the rustling of sheets and the squeaking of the bed springs as she climbed in. "You know being in a man's bed can be scary too?" I asked.

"That depends on whether you're the kind to take advantage of a young, defenseless girl," she answered. "Brrr, the sheets are cold."

I scooted towards the edge of the bed and felt their icy touch myself. "Try moving to the center," I offered. Ako thanked me as she settled into the pre-warmed spot.

A loud pop and a louder thud reverberate around us, and I found Ako pressed tightly against me, her head buried into the crook of my shoulder. I know that she suffers in comparison to her more developed classmates, but there's no doubt that she's a girl. Images of Bubba loomed behind me, so near I could feel a hot breath, smelling of beer and pork rinds, upon my neck. Desperately I prayed for divine intervention. In answer, the door opened and another pair of feet padded to my bedroom.

"Ako, are you in there?" the new voice asked.

"Yes Makie," the girl next to me answered. "What is it?"

She rolled over as she spoke, and I took the opportunity to put a few inches of separation between us.

"That noise woke me and I didn't know where you were," the ringleader of this little band answered, sounding nothing like the self-assured lady of the previous day. "It was really loud and I uh, um and I was wondering ..."

Being a glutton for punishment I said, "Why don't we all spend the night in here?" How I expected two girls in my bed to be an improvement, I'm still not sure, but Makie quickly joined us. The little gymnast's teeth chattered as she commented on icy sheets.

"You're not getting the warm spot," her friend told her.

"Ako, you're so mean," she pouted.

Their banter subsided and we each dropped off to slumber. Before nodding off, it struck me that I was living in what passes, by anime standards, as paradise. I was the lone male sharing a house with three lovely girls, one friendly, one threatening, and one indifferent. Said house was now icebound, sundered from the outside world. A sudden kinship to Negi, Keitaro and countless other male leads arose within me and I stomped mercilessly on it. They may get me in the end, but I was determined not to meekly surrender.

**

* * *

**

A/N: Chapter title is from the poem 'A Dream within a Dream' by Edgar Allen Poe. The passage on the Oneiroi is quoted from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses.'

**Translations of words used are as follows:**

Shokken - Commission

Kawase - Exchange

Omamori – Honored Protector

Oneiros, Oneiroi – Dream, Dreams


End file.
